<head></head><body><div>All I know is that after 10 plus years of pulling, yanking, cutting out, and becoming painfully entangled in privet, oriental bittersweet, and multiflora rose I am ready to strangle the party that introduced them. I can't speak for the rest of the world, but here these plants grow into an impenetrable thicket allowing nothing else to grow. Maybe if someone could find me a market for these plants that would help, but right now they're in the way of the plants I am growing for income on my farm and I am tired of spending long hours just to rid my place of these nuisance plants that won't go away.<br><br>Robin<br><br><br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 255); padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 0px;">-----Original Message-----
<br>From: Bob Beyfuss <rlb14@cornell.edu>
<br>Sent: Dec 19, 2006 5:40 PM
<br>To: Patricia_DeAngelis@fws.gov, native-plants@lists.plantconservation.org, apwg@lists.plantconservation.org, mpwg@lists.plantconservation.org, rwg@lists.plantconservation.org
<br>Subject: Re: [MPWG] Electronic Public Discussion: Evaluating the Invasive Potential of Imported Plants
<br><br><zzzhtml>
<zzzbody>
The concept of plants in themselves being capable of being
"invasive" is silly. It is attributing human qualities
(implying malice in this case) to unthinking organisms. Plants live,
grow, reproduce (some are very efficient at this) and die. New or
different plants do not displace established existing plants in healthy,
undisturbed ecosystems. Plants do not appear anywhere due to
"spontaneous generation". They are brought in by humans or
animals. They may colonize or become naturalized in (neither colonize nor
naturalize imply malice) areas less suited to so called
"native" species because human activity has allowed this to
happen. <br><br>
I am offended at the concept that "exotic" plants are somehow
inferior to "native" plants. Especially since 90% of my diet
and that of most of us is derived from"exotic" plants.
Demonizing "exotic" plants as "invasive exotic" is
inherently offensive . Which term is less offensive to you
"Invasive exotic" or "opportunistic colonizer"? Now
try to answer that question if you happen to be from the Middle east
(maybe Iraq), Asia or Africa or Europe and you hear or read an American
talking about "invasive exotic species". I am sure the people
in the middle east or anywhere else in the world must enjoy reading about
our efforts to "combat" (another wonderful term)
"invasive, exotic species". <br><br>
Personally I like the term "noxious weed" in which a weed is
defined as "an unwanted plant". By this definition a
"volunteer" (i.e. unplanted) soybean plant growing in a
corn field is a weed. A "noxious weed" is a particularly
undesirable weed. Why do we have to invent new terms that are as
offensive as "exotic invasive" or even worse "alien,
invasive"?<br><br>
What I find even more troubling is the knee jerk reaction to their
presence. Lets just kill all the bad plants we don't like anymore and
everything will be fine. First we gather all their names up and put them
on a list. Target these for extermination. Next we will make up more
lists of plants that "might" be "invasive" in the
future and ban them too. Here in NY State we already have county
executives issuing "executive decrees" banning the use of any
but "native" species in any future plantings on county
property. How dare they do this? Yet, this is a logical extension of the
current polices we are formulating. Why should we be denied daffodils,
daylillies, tulips or apple trees or Kentucky bluegrass (another exotic
import) because someone has decided that they are evil?
<br><br>
In the long run, and I must emphasize looking at the long run or the big
picture, every single environment on this planet will ultimately
determine what plant and animal species survives there, not some
bureaucrat in Washington with a pen making up lists of good versus bad
plants based on his or her opinion. This process is called natural
selection and it is constant. Black locust is OK in PA because it is
"native" but bad in NY because it is exotic? This is crazy. The
same species of Magnolias growing in China are identical to some of those
growing here. At one time there was one continent so what exactly is
"native" and why are "native" plants superior to Non
native? Are "native people, i.e. blue blooded Americans inherently
superior to immigrants because they were born here? How long must one be
here to be considered a "native"? <br>
<br>
Global warming will have a far more profound effect on plant species and
their distribution than some group of people spraying herbicides on
plants they don't like.<br><br>
An interesting research project along that line might be to study exactly
how plants are distributed and become established within any given
community. While highly paid administrators are forming invasive
plant councils, attending countless meetings and making regulations, the
local highway department employee (@ $10 per hour) is transplanting
garlic mustard and Japanese knotweed every time they move the Grade-all
machine from one place to another. The people picking up garbage along
the highway are also picking up weed seeds and moving them down the road.
All the campers, mountain bikers, hikers, 4 wheelers, skiers, and other
outdoor recreationist constantly introduce exotic stuff into the
environment. Should we pass regulations banning these activities? No, it
is much easier to blame the plants for the problems and spray them with
herbicides. Or is it?<br><br>
I recently spoke with the local Executive Director of the Nature
Conservancy for the Catskill Mountain region and he estimated that he
could easily spend 90% or more of their total annual operating budget
trying to eradicate only garlic mustard and only from roadsides in this
region and the net result would be that it would be required to do this
every year indefinitely with no chance of eradication at all. Is this a
good use of our limited resources? Good organizations like Ohio's Rural
Action Network are forced to rescue plants from proposed new highways
which soon will have their shoulders colonized by "exotic, invasive
plants". So, should we ban the building of new highways or prohibit
logging or timber harvest because of the inevitable consequences? Maybe
we should ban all imports of all exotic plants or better yet prohibit
cultivation of all but native plants! Or do we proceed as carefully as
possible with these projects and realize that there will surely be
unwanted consequences as a result?.<br><br>
Most of the plants now considered as evil, invasive exotic species were
introduced for some very good reasons and many of them are still great
choices for many situations. If not for Norway maple there would be no
street trees in some stressed locations. Like the soybean plant in the
cornfield, one situation's weed is another situations wildflower.
Black locust is a wonderful alternative to CCA pressure treated wood,
many, many species of songbirds feast on the berries of the exotic
honeysuckles, Autumn and Russian olive, bittersweet, barberry, multiflora
rose, and on and on. <br><br>
I don't like the idea of banning books, banning plants or banning
anything because it is politically correct. All this talk about
"combating invasive exotics" and the connotations of this
language makes me very nervous. We are already engaged in far too many
wars for our own good and for the good of our planet. <br><br>
Thanks for reading. <br>
Bob Beyfuss<br><br>
At 11:20 AM 12/13/2006, Patricia_DeAngelis@fws.gov wrote:<br><br>
</zzzbody></zzzhtml></rlb14@cornell.edu><blockquote type="cite" class="cite" cite="">Excuse the cross-postings but it
looks like there is something in this for everyone! <br><br>
This discussion is already underway! A summary of the purpose and
how you can participate is below. To see the full notice, see:
<a href="http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/E6-18768.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/E6-18768.htm</a>
<br><br>
<font size="2">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
</font><br><br>
<tt>SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health
<br>
Inspection Service (APHIS) is hosting an electronic public discussion
<br>
on methods that can be used to evaluate the potential of imported <br>
plants to become invasive species if they are introduced into the <br>
United States. Any interested person can register for the electronic
<br>
discussion, which will allow participants to upload files and interact
<br>
with other participants and with APHIS staff.<br>
</tt><br>
<tt>DATES: The electronic public discussion will be held from November
27, <br>
2006 to January 26, 2007.<br><br>
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Polly Lehtonen, Senior Staff <br>
Officer, Commodity Import Analysis and Operations, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 <br>
River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1236; (301) 734-8758.<br>
</tt><br>
<tt>QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION: We would like participants in the
</tt><br>
<tt>electronic discussion to specifically address the following six
questions, </tt><br>
<tt>although general comments on the issue of evaluating invasiveness
will </tt><br>
<tt>be accepted as well.<br>
1. What criteria, other than whether the plant has a history
of <br>
invasiveness elsewhere, are most useful to determine the invasiveness
<br>
of a plant introduced into the United States for the first time?<br>
2. When there is little or no existing scientific literature
or <br>
other information describing the invasiveness of a plant species, how
<br>
much should we extrapolate from information on congeners (other species
<br>
within the same genus)?<br>
3. What specific scientific experiments should be conducted
to best <br>
evaluate a plant's invasive potential? Should these experiments be <br>
conducted in a foreign area, in the United States, or both?<br>
4. How should the results of such experiments be
interpreted? <br>
Specifically, what results should be interpreted as providing <br>
conclusive information for a regulatory decision?<br>
5. If field trials are necessary to determine the invasive
<br>
potential of a plant, under what conditions should the research be <br>
conducted to prevent the escape of the plant into the environment?<br>
6. What models or techniques are being used by the nursery
<br>
industry, weed scientists, seed companies, botanical gardens, and <br>
others to screen plants that have not yet been widely introduced into
<br>
the United States for invasiveness? What species have been rejected by
<br>
these evaluators as a result of the use of these evaluation methods?<br>
</tt><br>
<tt>ACCESSING THE ELECTRONIC DISCUSSION:<br>
While anyone can access the discussion and read the
comments, <br>
registration is required in order to participate in the discussion. You
<br>
will be asked to register at the time you post your comment.
Participants </tt><br>
<tt>will be required to enter their name and e-mail address. Affiliation
and </tt><br>
<tt>mailing address are optional. Only the participant names will be
publicly displayed. </tt><br><br>
<tt>The discussion will be accessible through a link on Plant Protection
and <br>
Quarantine's Web page for the nursery stock revision,
<a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/Q37/revision.html">
<font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New, Courier">
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/Q37/revision.html</font></a>.<br><br>
</tt>_______________________________________________<br>
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</blockquote>
</blockquote></div></body><PRE>
Robin Alton Suggs
MoonBranch Botanicals
5294 Yellow Creek Road
Robbinsville, North Carolina 28771
USA
Telephone: 828.479.2788
moonbranch@earthlink.net
www.moonbranch.com
Member:
American Herbalist Guild
Co-op America
Green Products Alliance
National Network of Forest Practitioners
North Carolina Consortium on Natural Medicines
North Carolina Goodness Grows/NCDA&CS
North Carolina Natural Products Association
Southwestern North Carolina RC&D Council
United Plant Savers
"We have no choice but to respect that which sustains us."</PRE>